An Australian sheep dog named Maggie, believed to be the world’s oldest dog, died peacefully in her sleep Tuesday.
Her owner and lifelong companion, dairy farmer Brian McLaren, said he found Maggie curled snugly in her bed when he arrived at his farm in Woolsthorpe, in the southern-Australian state of Victoria.
“She was 30 years old, she was still going along nicely last week, she was walking from the dairy to the office and growling at the cats and all that sort of thing,” McLaren told the Weekly Times. “I’m sad, but I’m pleased she went the way she went.”
McLaren says he wasn’t been able to officially verify the Kelpie’s age after losing her paperwork, but says he first got Maggie when his son was just 4 years old. He’s now 34.
If true, Maggie, would have been an incredible 210 years old in dog years. That’s at least double the life expectancy of most breeds, which generally live between 8 and 15 years.
McLaren said Maggie was going strong but went downhill over the last two days.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest dog was Bluey, an Australian cattle dog that also lived in Victoria. Bluey was put to sleep in November, 1939 at the age of 29.
